Do dawdle in Deauville but a little longer in Honfleur..

 

A teacher invited me on a short day trip to two little Norman towns called Honfleur and Deauville. The former, besides being my favourite is also famous for its maze of beautiful streets full of crafts, antique shops and art studios. Eglise de Saint Cathérine, the largest wooden church in France is one of the main attractions mainly because of its resemblance to an upturned hull (thats because the carpenters who worked on the church normally constructed ships in this port town.) Deauville on the other hand still remains the sea side resort frequented by the uber chic/rich Parisians. Its most important achievement is the Casino de Deauville and partly the American film festival it organises every year (since 1975) and has welcomed the likes of Angelina Jolie, the Beatles, blah blah blah. What appealed most to me were the ''Planches de Deauville'', the famous wooden promenade built in the early 1900s so that women could enjoy walking along the beach without soiling their clothes in the sand! I may not be the biggest fan of Deauville but here is what artist Eugen Boudin has to say, ''Nature,'' he wrote in his diary, ''remains far richer than I can paint her. In Normandy, with its chalky cliffs and hills of granite, apple orchards and green pastures, sandy beaches and sparkling sea, nature is rich indeed. But there are other riches: Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance chateaus and churches, harbors, turn-of-the-century villas - and Deauville.''

The infamous "Planches de Deauville".